1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to voting systems, and, more particularly, to a system and method for un-issuing a voting credit that has been erroneously issued to a voter in an election to enable the voter to vote a regular ballot in the election.
2. Description of Prior Art
A variety of methods for tracking registered voters and their voting activities are used in the United states and throughout the world. Paper-based poll books that list all the voters registered to vote in a particular election at a particular polling place are commonly used. In general, when a voter enters a polling place, the poll worker checks-in the voter by locating her name in the poll book, confirming that the voter has not yet voted in the election, and obtaining the voter's signature in the poll book. After the election, the poll book is returned to the central election office where an election administrator updates the voter registration database system by issuing a voting credit for each voter who voted in the election.
More recently, electronic means for tracking registered voters have been used in an increasing number of jurisdictions. In such jurisdictions, electronic poll books are used instead of paper-based poll books. An electronic poll book allows a poll worker to access a database of all the voters registered to vote in a particular election. In general, when a voter enters a polling place, the poll worker uses the electronic poll book to search for the voter's record in the database, confirm that the voter has not yet voted in the election, and issue a voting credit to the voter. In many jurisdictions, the database resides locally on the electronic poll book, which may be periodically synchronized with a central voter database. Alternatively, the electronic poll book may communicate with the central voter database in real-time, in which case the validation of a voter's eligibility to vote and issuance of a voting credit is made directly against the central voter database.
Tracking voting credits for a particular voter is important. In some jurisdictions, a voter is required to vote in the primary election in order to vote in the general election. Voting credits are also used to maintain a voter's active status in the voter database. Also, voting credits are used to ensure that each voter only votes once in a particular election. Political parties also use voting histories to communicate with various types of voters. Thus, a method of accurately issuing and tracking voting credits is critical to a properly run election and a healthy democratic system.
One problem associated with the use of an electronic poll book is that there is no method for un-issuing a voting credit at the polling place if a voting credit was previously issued to a voter in error. Currently, if a voter has been erroneously issued a voting credit, the voter will not be allowed to vote a regular ballot. Instead, the voter will be issued a provisional ballot that will need to be verified and processed at a later time at the central election office, or the voter may not be allowed to vote at all. As such, the voting selections of the voter will not be included in the election day results.